The 130,000 square feet of the Heard Museum in Phoenix houses many treasures that in their combination give one a feel for how the Southwest was settled by its first nations and how these traditions have evolved to today.

There are three tours daily that are included in the admission fee, each 45 minutes long, and in that short time frame the tours are extremely thorough in unveiling the collection’s key treasures and providing a narrative about Native American life in the Southwest.

We learn how rainbow symbols of water are not surprisingly Navajo symbols of protection in the desert clime. We also learn how the dragon fly image came to be incorporated into designs for similar reasons.